


Trapped

by Party_City_Worms



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, linked universe (fandom)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Animal Death, Animal Transformation, It gets darker, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Magic, Wolf link - Freeform, animal cruelty, sorta - Freeform, will add more tags as they become relavent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:46:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22466650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Party_City_Worms/pseuds/Party_City_Worms
Summary: It had been just a relatively normal Thursday, he had gotten off of work from his new job, and choosing to ignore his good friend Sky's concerns about the path he'd chosen to walk home through, he probably shortened his lifespan by about, give or take... Oh, fuck if he knew, this wasn't the time to do math.Was he swearing more than usual? It seemed he was. But listen, anyone would if they got turned into a dog by some wack job with a mask on. He never really believed in magic, but this was all too real to be a nightmare.
Relationships: Legend & Time (Linked Universe), Legend & Twilight (Linked Universe), Sky & Twilight (Linked Universe), Time & Twilight (Linked Universe)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	Trapped

Fuck curses. Fuck magic. Fuck his life.

It had been just a relatively normal thursday, he had gotten off of work from his new job, and choosing to ignore his good friend Sky's concerns about the path he'd chosen to walk home through, he probably shortened his lifespan by about, give or take... Oh, fuck if he knew, this wasn't the time to do math.

Was he swearing more than usual? It seemed he was. But listen, anyone would if they got turned into a dog by some wackjob with a mask on. He never really believed in magic, but this was all too real to be a nightmare.

His pace had slowed down to more of a careful and tentative trot, not quite used to this weird body. His sense of smell was overpowering, but not as overwhelming as since sense of hearing. Everything was loud, he could hear his own steps, his new claws scraping the ground. The worst part was that he wasn't even sure he could understand english anymore. Every word he heard someone utter was a jumble of sound, uncomprehensible to his ears.

He needed to find a way to turn back into a human.

But he wasn't going to get that chance, was he?

He found himself cornered by two- how old were they? Teenagers? Older? Younger? He couldn't tell, their faces seemed so far away as they approached him, voices an unnerving garble, hands starting to reach out towards him, as if to grab him or steal him or hurt him-

As his back pressed further and further into the wall, his lips drew up in a snarl and he felt a growl raise in his throat. He pinned his ears to the back of his head and bared his teeth. "Go away, don't touch me!" He tried to spit with venom but the trembling fear in his voice sounded like a whimper.

But they did not draw back their hands, they only came closer, moving to grab. He needed to protect himself.

And so he lashed out in a defensive snarl, pushing off the wall to throw himself at them, biting his teeth into their arm.

Whatever happened next was a blur. He tried to run, hoping his self defense was enough of a diversion to get away.

They yelled after him in their garbled tongue, too loud to be safe, and the next thing he knew, a hand grabbed the back of his neck, he turned and bit again, terror pumping in his heart, and then everything went black.

___

He was human, of course he was, he always has been. Something tugs at the back of his mind, a memory of some nightmare. But this is right and this is good, so he does not listen.

Sky is by his side, had he been there before? They walk in silence, enjoying eachother's company before turning to leave.

Something chokes at his neck, pulling him backwards, dragging him away, he tries to grab onto the groud but his hands morph into paws, claws scrabbling at the nothingness of the ground beneath him as he lets out a choked scream and-

He awakens to the sound of howling.

The howl is his own.

"Calm down, pup," came a gruff voice. "Nightmare, I suppose?"

His eyes readjusted to the darkness. "I..." Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he stood to stretch, but his back hit against the metal bars of a cage. "Ah!"

"Hey hey! It's alright, calm down. You got a name?"

He paused. No, he wouldn't give this mystery man his real name. "Ah... Call me... Twilight." Yes, the nickname Sky gave him would work. "Who.... who are you?" He heard an amused snort and felt the cage around him shake. 

"Just some old mutt, beside you." 

Twi swiftly turned his head to look, and a strange looking dog with a greying muzzle, a missing eye, and a one around it's neck, stared at him with a tired, slightly bemused look. "You want out of that cage?"

Twilight's mind reeled as he recollected memories of what happened the night before. "I....I'm a dog."

"Yes."

"No! No no no, you don't understand, I shouldn't be a dog! I'm, I'm a human! I'm a human!" His voice began to devolve into whimpers, adding to his humiliation.

"Calm down pup, let me free you so you have more room to talk. They shouldn't be back for a while longer, but until then..."

A new voice spoke up, possibly the most forced laughter he had ever heard.

"Let me guess, tall, wore a mask that made him look like a fish, spew nonsense about his god?"

Twilight shifted uncomfortably at the description of the man who had cursed him.

"Well?"

"Yes, that was what he looked like."

A disgruntled rabbit appeared from the shadows and kicked open the latch of his cage. "Oh, he's turning people into dogs now? Lucky you."

Twilight stared at the rabbit. "...Were you also human?"

"Yeah but that was about... 4? 5? Years ago. Never gonna forget that bastard's face though." He paused and nodded his head in the other direction. "Get out of that cage, can't be comfortable."

Twilight obliged, and ducked his head to exit. Straightening his back and stretching, he was startled to now be face-to-face with the one eyed dog who had tried calming him. "Y-you're so tall..."

He seemed pleased, his tail reaching a slow wag. "That I am, pup. My father was a wolf, I got it from him, though I never met him."

"Yeah? Well you old fuck, that cone around you neck keeps you from being threatening either way." The rabbit snorted bitterly.

"It's just so my claws don't get stuck in my eye again, calm down Hopper-"

"My name isn't Hopper!"

"Well, that's what-"

"Fuck that! I've kept the same name for so long every time I came back here, and the bastard children who gave me that stupid, stupid name didn't even bother to give me back before it was too late!"

"If you keep making such a big fuss about it, they'll think I've started to maul you-"

"Why should THAT matter! We're going to die anyways!"

Twi's stomach dropped.

"We're what?"

Not-Hopper's angered face faltered when he noticed Twi's horrified expression. "R-right... How long have you been an animal?"

"Just... Last night. Or- I'm not sure how long I've been out. I got transformed, then... stuff happened... and now I'm here." He felt a lump in his throat, a bit embarrassed how intimidating this rabbit- or, former human, was, but mostly ashamed of himself, and still in shock from the statement.

"...Right. 'Stuff'. Uh..." The rabbit lowered his ears, eyes darting back and forth between the old dog and him. "Hey. Read the papers on the cage for me, will you?"

"Of course," The wolfdog (he still hadn't gotten a name, had he?) padded over past Twi, before Twi cut him off.

"I can read them myself!" He snapped, hackles raising.

"Suit yourself."

Twi moved to face the paper, but his eyes couldn't make out a single word. It was all a blur.

"I... Can't read it."

"Precisely. Now, if you'll excuse me, pup."

Twi lowered his head. "So... what are your real names?"

The rabbit laughed. "Real name? Oh please, I haven't used that in years. Last person to call me that was-" His eyes rolled back in thought, and suddenly his face went grim and defeated. "Nevermind. Besides the point. Just call me Legend. That was my name for over 4 years, until... Fuck. I'm not even going to get into it."

"Legend? Weird name for a rabbit."

Legend gave him a look of disgust. "Uh-huh. Fuck you."

"...Right."

The wolfdog paused and looked up from his reading. "Can call me Time, short for Old Timer. 13 years and still going strong!"

Twi bit his lip. "13 years? That's..." He wasn't sure how old that was for a dog. "That's great."

"Not really." He huffed, seemingly amused. "Well... this handwriting is a mess. The loopy kind isn't my strong suit."

"Cursive?"

"That what you call it?"

"Yes?"

"Huh." He had a thoughtful look. "Oh! That's right, lets see... Oh." His voice dropped. "....That's.... Well. That certainly is 'stuff'."

"What? What does it say?" Twi straightened up, fear pounding in his chest, still hopeful.

"You bit... two humans."

"W-well, it was self defense!"

"Two young humans."

"I said it was self defense!"

"They don't know that, pup."

"And-" It started to click. He nearly passed out. "Oh."

The room went silent, and Twi's world spun. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't. He wasn't supposed be a dog. He wasn't supposed to die as a dog. He wasn't supposed to die so soon.

Legend said something, but Twi's mind was too full of static to hear it. 

"I-I'm sorry. I just- I need to lay down," Twi sputtered, closing his eyes and shaking his head slowly back and forth, "I need to lay down."

"Suit yourself... Get out your last wishes and pray to whatever god you have." Legend said, and motioned Twi back into his cage. "We won't have much longer. They'll be back here for us soon, I'll close the latch."

Twi felt numb, and backed into his prison cell. He gave Legend a nod, and lay down, feeling his whole body shiver on the cold metal floor.

Nothing could make this worse, at least. But nothing could make it better.

Until he realized something that could make it far better.

And if it didn't?

Well, it would make everything worse.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally a livewrite. More chapters will be added as i get the motivation to write them. Hope you enjoyed!


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